As with gloves, the use of parasols was not a new concept in Europe before the Georgian era. Ladies had been using umbrellas to maintain a ghostly complexion since the 17th century, and later on used oiled paper umbrellas to protect themselves from rain in the 18th century. Pale complexions were a symbol of wealth because they distinguished the nobility from common laborers, who could not afford parasols or sun hats, or to lounge around in the shade all day. Oil paper umbrellas originated in East and South East Asia and spread to Europe under the slang term “kittisols” when world trade picked up in the mid 18th century.

Men and women alike employed the use of kittisols, which were largely unknown to the countryside of the U.K. till the 1760’s. Before the widespread use of the modern umbrella, umbrellas were large and used over carriages to block rain, in fact they were so unwieldy that they required an attendant! The first light weight umbrellas were available in 1710 in France, but as mentioned, they took a while to gain popularity.

Georgian era kittisols were commonly referred to as parasols, even though there is debate on whether or not they are the same thing. Whenever a woman was using an umbrella, it was referred to as a parasol.

Yes I know, this is all so confusing- to further confuse you I will give the etymology of the word parasol. No surprise here, it’s a French word(almost all fancy things have French names it seems), para means “to shield, shroud, or defend”, while sol is derived from the word soleil, which means “sun”. For all intensive purposes, parasol can be translated as “sun shield”. Now, if there is any francophones reading this, let me further disambiguate that while sol by itself means “floor”, that is not the intended meaning in this instance.

Moving on from those rather dreary distinctions, parasols were most commonly constructed of wood ribbing and oil or wax coated canvas, silk, and sometimes leather, and of course, a brass or wooden handle. It was not uncommon for a particularly well off lady’s parasol to be decorated with all sorts of taffeta and gold/silver detailing, lace attachés were also a common ornament. Parasol colors generally followed the color scheme of Georgian gowns- appearing usually in white or pastel colors.

Below are some examples of parasols. The picture on the left depicts a lady in ornate Georgian attire yet a with a curiously plain, yet attractive shade of pink, parasol. In the middle you will see an example of a more of an ornate parasol, also in pink, with lace attachés, that were, as previously mentioned, fashionable at the time. Finally, on the right of these two, you will see a parasol that borders between beautifully intricate and down right gaudy, this would have been very expensive. I’m still deciding whether or not I like it as I write this.

Hm, after finishing inserting these pictures I’ve decided the one on the right looks very much like an old couch. Anyways, I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and look forward to the next post, where I will be describing Marie Antoinette’s impact on 18th and 19th century fashion, as well as some of her strange habits.